Safety appliance for street-cars.



L. M. MAXHAM.

SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR STREET CARS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 25, 1906. RENEWED MAR. 26, 1998.

82 Wm 1.3 1H 7S 2% T E mm s d 2 6 m m a P Lowell Mason Maxh am LOWELL MASON MAXHAM, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR STREET-CABS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 27, 1908.

Application filed May 25, 1906, Serial No. 318,610. Renewed March 26, 1908. Serial N 0. 423,433

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOWELL MASON MAX- HAM, a citizen of the United States, and re siding at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of lVIassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Appliances for Street-Cars, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of this invention is the construction of improved devices for preventing prostrate persons from accidentally being drawn under a car from any direction; the front member of the arrangement consisting of a plow of the cow-catcher type disposed for ready housing or folding, either to permit-two cars provided with the same to be coupled closely together, or to save space in storage, and to improve the appearance of the rear end of the car.

Referring to the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side view of a front safety appliance made in accord ance with my invention, certain of the parts being re n-resented as removed or broken away for the better illustration of the remainder. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of said appliance. Fig. 8 is a plan view of the same, a part of the car-end being shown as broken away. Fig. fl: is a side sectional elevation showing the said appliance folded up or housed, with many of the parts not illustrated. F 5 is a front elevation of said appliance folded up or housed.

To permit the safety appliance to be folded back against or beneath the hunter 1. of a car is evidently not so simple an affair in the case of a cow-catcher type of safety appliance, as it is with the common flat type of car fender; inasmuch as the former is in two separate planes making substantial angles one with respect to the other. I finally succeeded in surmounting the difliculties which at first seemed impossible of overcoming, in the following way The lower edge of the safety appliance consists of a heavy bar 2 bent at an angle at midlength to form the nose of the plow or appliance, and having its ends pivoted to the fixed side-bars 3, 3. Along the inner face of this bar and near the upper edge thereof, are numerous eyes or staples 6 strongly fastened thereto, as by riveting, and engaging each of these staples is the eye 5 formed at the lower end of a rod 4; said rods being located comparatively near together, and composing the two faces of the plow. The upper ends of these rods loosely penetrate holes formed in the two bars 7 which are fixed in the same vertical plane, but form an angle substantially equal to that of the bar 2 when the latter is folded back; as shown in Fig. Hence, when the plow base or bar 9. is thus folded back, said rods slide along through the holes in the bars 7 and take the positions represented in Fig. 4:, which, as shown in Fig. 5, leave a perfectly clear space for the coupler bar 9.

To look the plow in either its operative or housed position, I have the central rod 10, which is suitably pivoted to the nose of the bar 2, formed with a notch 13 near its upper end, and also one near its lower end; providing the plate 8, through which such rod is slidable, with a locking device 11 adapted to enter either such notch. A cross pin 12 at the end of said rod 10 keeps the plow bar 2 from descending below horizontal position. Said locking device consists of an intermediately pivoted weighted latch, the heavy handle of which serves to retain the latch in either notch, while a side pressure applied thereto throws the latch to one side and out from such notch 13.

The space between the bars 7 and the car body is filled by straps 20 riveted to said bars and also to angle irons 21 secured to the under side of said body; while the fixed bar-sections 3, 3 are rigidly supported by the heavy braces 25.

The nose of the plow is protected by a soft rubber guard 39 suitably secured thereto, and serving to save from injury any object struck directly by such nose. The re mainder of the plow being composed of slanting surfaces is much less liable to cause injury, but will simply strike a glancing blow disposed to throw such object obliquely to one side.

The remainder of the safety appliance consists of a series of guards 30 located along the sides of the car; each guard being rounded at each end and held by slotted supports 31, as shown in Fig. 1, to permit its rising over ice or other obstructions. These guards are pivoted to permit them to be swung outward at their lower edges to give access to the running mechanism whenever needed; while suitable springs 33 and fixed stops 32 normally keep them in their position of protection. These guards are designed to reach within two or three inches of the pavement in order to assure that no child or other person shall accidentally or intentionally be thrown beneath the car at its side; for it often happens that a child will run square against a moving car behind the fender and then in some way get in front of the wheels; or someone will fall from the front steps or the running board of the car and will similarly endanger himself. With my guards, however, a body cannot be forced toward the wheels from one side, but will be effectually shielded therefrom. Further, on double truck cars, for,

which my appliances are especially designed, the resilient outward swing of which each guard is capable serves to keep the same from interference with the lateral swing or turn of the trucks when the car is rounding a sharp curve.

What I claim as my invention and for which I desire Letters Patent is as follows, to wit l. A pilot comprising a wedge, and means for collapsing the wedge.

2. A pilot comprising a wedge, and means for changing the planes of the wedge into substantial parallelism.

3. A pilot comprising a wedge, and means for changing the planes of the wedge into substantial parallelism perpendicular to the deck of the car.

t. A safety appliance for cars comprising a centrally projecting terminally pivoted member located in a substantially horizontal plane, and members rising from the firstnamed member to elevated points and disposed to permit the first-named member to be turned up to a housed position.

5. A safety appliance for cars comprising a plow-shaped device having its V-shaped lower front edge terminally pivoted to fixed supports and disposed to be folded up to a housed position, and the members composing the two faces of the plow being constructed to permit such housing and to give access to the car coupling bar.

6. A safety appliance for cars comprising supports carried by the car, a member ter minally pivoted to said supports but having the intermediate parts thereof in advance of said supports, and rods attached attheir lower ends to said member and loosely supported at their upper ends to permit said member to be turned up to a housed position.

7. A safety appliance for cars comprising a V-shaped bar, fixed supports to which the ends of said bar are pivoted, and rods loosely attached at one end of each to said bar and loosely supported at their upper ends to permit said bar to be turned up beneath the car hunter.

8. A safety appliance for cars consisting of a V-shaped bar, fixed supports to which the ends of said bar are pivoted, rods pivoted at their lower ends to said bar, and a fixed support having openings slidably receiving said rods.

9. A safety appliance for cars comprising a V-shaped bar, fixed supports to which the ends of said bar are pivoted, rods pivoted at their lower ends to said bar, and two fixed, angularly disposed-bars having open ings slidably receiving said rods.

10. A safety appliance for cars consisting of a V-shaped bar, fixed supports to which the ends of said bar are pivoted, a rod pivoted to the nose of said bar, a fixed support slidably receiving said rod, means for preventing said rod from wholly leaving its support, a locking device for holding said rod in either of its extreme positions, and members composing the two faces of the appliance and disposed to permit said bars a dj ustment.

11. A safety appliance for cars consisting of a V-shaped bar, fixed supports to which the ends of said bar are pivoted, a rod pivoted to the nose of said bar, a fixed support slidably receiving said rod, means for preventing said rod from wholly leaving its support, a locking device pivoted to said rods support and engaging notches formed in said rod, and means composing the two faces of the appliance and disposed to permit said bars adjustment.

12. A safety appliance for cars consisting of a V-shaped bar, fixed supports to which the ends of said bar are pivoted, rods pivoted at their lower ends to said bar, a central fixed plate having an opening receiving the central one of said rods, two angularly disposed bars terminally held by said plate and fixed supports and having openings loosely receiving the remainder of said rods, slats held by said angularly disposed bars and fixed to the underside of the car to which the appliance is attached, and a looking device for holding said V-shaped bar in either its operative or housed position.

13. A safety appliance for cars consisting of a V-shaped bar, pivotally supported at its ends, staples fixed to said bar, rods having eyes loosely held by said staples, and supports having openings loosely receiving said rods.

14. A safety appliance for cars consisting of a V-shaped bar pivotally supported at its ends and disposed to be turned up to a housed position beneath the car bunter, means inclosing the space included between the tWo parts of said bar, and a locking device for securing said bar in either its operative or housed position.

15. The combination with a car, of a safety device comprising a normally vertical frame loosely held at its upper edge by the car and resiliently drawn inward at its lower edge, means for preventing said lower edge to be forced inward beyond its normal position, and means for permitting said frame 10 to rise vertically.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing invention, I have hereunto set my hand this 23d day of May, 1906.

LOWELL MA SON MAXI-1AM.

Vitnesses:

F. G. Tln'roN, A. B. UPHAM. 

